The governor of the state of New York, Kathy Hochul, and the mayor Eric Adams yesterday joined efforts with the business sector to once again demand that the federal government speed up the regularization of recently arrived immigrants so that they can work, in a city where there are also jobs available for them.
Hochul compared the humanitarian and economic crisis being faced as “a kind of hurricane.”
“We need money, new places of refuge and support. We need changes in work authorization policies that allow these people to not have to wait months and possibly years to obtain their legal status, but let’s do it expeditiously,” Hochul said in a statement. joint press conference focused on the demand to expedite the granting of Temporary Protected Status (TPS in English).
Hochul indicated that currently immigrants must wait 180 days to have a work permit after applying for asylum in the US, which they believe should be changed to face the crisis in New York and recalled that immigrants “want to work” and that There are jobs in the agricultural, hotel and restaurant sectors.
More places
He also indicated that they continue to work with the city administration to find more places to welcome immigrants “wherever we can find them” because “the city is overwhelmed,” referring to the more than 70,000 who have arrived in less than a year. , of which 42,000 are under the care of the city that provides them with shelter, meals, medical services, among others, as well as education for the children.
While Mayor Eric Adams reiterated that the situation is “no longer sustainable.” The city is paying for more than 150 hotels to accommodate them after the overcrowding in public shelters and created nine Centers for Aid and Response to Humanitarian Emergencies where it provides them with various services.
5,800 in a week
The continued flow of immigrants, with more than 5,800 in the past week alone, according to Adams, has led the city to send them to hotels upstate, where it has met with resistance from managers.
“These are real figures and they are going to impact all the city’s services,” said the mayor who last year declared a state of emergency in the face of the humanitarian crisis but, he said today, that the city cannot continue to function “in emergency mode emergency”.
The Democratic politician also indicated that it is necessary to “be clear at this moment that this challenge is of epic proportions”: “We have spent more than 1,000 million dollars. It is projected that we will spend close to 4,300 million, if not more. Thirty million is not They are close to what this city is paying for a national problem,” he said, referring to the amount he said he received from the federal government.
Last April Adams already asked President Joe Biden to “immediately” facilitate TPS for immigrants.
The president of the City Council, Adrienne Adams, also joined the demand, pointing out in a statement that the federal government must remove barriers to facilitate work permits, which in turn would help companies “close the gaps “that have been undermining their workforce.
“The Council has repeatedly reiterated the need for expedited work authorization for asylum seekers and I once again urge immediate action,” he said.
During the conference, the claim of the Venezuelan immigrant Yvert Rada was heard, who arrived in the city 20 days ago and asked Biden “to help us with work permits and thus be able to have the dignified life that we deserve and help our families.” .
